Michigan State University
2-10, 0
Western Carolina
7-5, 0
Mokma’s Gem Sparks Spartans To Split Saturday
3/9/2019 11:59:00 PM | Baseball
Junior hurler fires career-high 11 Ks in complete contest.
GREENVILLE, S.C. -- Michigan State baseball got an 11-strikeout complete game gem from Mike Mokma to spark the Spartans to a 7-1 win over Ohio State Saturday as MSU split its action at the First Pitch Invitational at Fluor Field, home of the Greenville Drive. The Spartans lost to Western Carolina, 6-4 in 10 innings in the opener, but bounced back with the non-conference win over OSU for the split.
Junior right-hander Mokma fired a career-high 11 Ks, topping his previous career-best of six punchouts in two games this season, vs. No. 21 NC State (Feb. 23) and at No. 24 Arizona State (March 2), as he now has five or more Ks in all four outings this season.
Mokma struck out the side in the first inning, adding two more in the second stanza as well as the third for seven Ks through three frames, as part of not facing more than four OSU batters in eight of the nine innings, facing five batters in the sixth, but got a double play and a ground out to thwart the threat. He retired the Buckeyes in three-up, three-down order in four total innings, including the eighth and ninth.
Mokma scattered seven hits without walking a batter on Saturday, allowing just one run.
"It felt great and I had command of everything. The guys made plays behind me and getting a seven-run lead helped a lot," Mokma said. "It's just really fun when you click like that as a team, really fun. It was great to get that support behind me. Marty (Bechina) is one of our captains and he always brings the energy, so having the team behind you makes it easy."
It was the first complete game by an MSU pitcher since Alex Troop at South Carolina on March 10, 2017. Mokma's 11 Ks was the first double-digit strikeout outing by a Spartan hurler since Riley McCauley has 12 Ks in last year's season-opener at Fresno State (Feb. 16, 2018).
"Mike was outstanding in every way tonight," MSU head coach Jake Boss Jr. said. "He struck out 11 and didn't walk anybody, just gave up the one run, against a really good ball club. I've got a lot of respect for Ohio State and Coach Beals, I think they do a great job, they play the game the right way. Mike did a heck of a job when we really needed it. We had a disappointing loss in game one, and thankfully for us, Mike was ready to go out and play. He threw a lot of strikes tonight and was in command the whole way."
Mokma's outing in the second game was backed by the Spartan bats and gloves. MSU jumped out to a 3-0 lead after the first frame, adding three more in the third and one in the fifth for a 7-0 lead, before OSU plated its run in the sixth. The Spartan defense also made some nice plays behind Mokma, including a couple of snazzy catches from shortstop Bechina.
Junior outfielder Bryce Kelley was 3-for-4 with a run scored, while senior infielder Bryce Ando was 2-for-4 with three RBI and Bechina was 1-for-3 with a run driven in.
"I think our guys showed a lot of character and a lot of mental toughness" Boss said about the Spartans bouncing back from the loss in the opener. "That was a tough one to lose in game one and felt like we kind of gave it away. It was a quiet locker room between games, as it should have been, but the guys do a good job of separating one game from the next, they always have, and once 6:30 rolled around, we were ready to play and it showed. We jumped out to an early lead, Mike struck out the side in the first and we got three on the board right off the bat, and just kept it going."
In the opener, MSU took a 2-0 lead with a run in each of the first and second frames, before WCU scored a run in the fifth, but the Spartans countered with a run in the sixth for a 3-1 lead. The Catamounts clawed back with a run in the eighth that was matched by a Spartan run in the bottom of the frame. However, WCU plated two in the top of the ninth to tie it, and MSU was unable to score in the home half of the ninth, sending the game to extra innings and the Catamounts scratched out the win with two runs in the top of the 10th and the Spartans were unable to score to extend or win the game.
Senior outfielder Dan Chmielewski was 2-for-3 with an RBI and a run scored, while junior outfielder Justin Antoncic was 2-for-4 with two runs scored. Bechina was 1-for-3 with two RBI, while sophomore catcher Adam Proctor smashed a solo home run to left center in the second inning.
Sophomore right handed starter Mason Erla went 5.1 IP with seven strikeouts, yielding only one run on six hits. Junior reliever Mitchell Tyranski added a pair of Ks in his 2.2 IP of work.
After Friday's action was washed out due to rain all afternoon, Saturday's schedule was altered and Michigan State's game against Western Carolina that was scheduled for Friday afternoon, was moved to Saturday afternoon, preceding the MSU-Ohio State game. Furman and Appalachian State's game was moved to Furman's Latham Baseball Stadium and played Saturday evening, with Furman winning, 6-5, on a walk-off.
Sunday's action remains scheduled as planned, opening with Appalachian State meeting Furman at 9 a.m., before MSU battles Appalachian State at 1 p.m. and Western Carolina faces Ohio State at 5 p.m. to wrap up the weekend.
Any schedule updates will be posted on MSUSpartans.com and on twitter @statebaseball.
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Mokma, Mike (1-0)
L: Burhenn, Garrett (2-1)
Batting:
2B: Pohl, Conner 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Carpenter, Matt 1
Batting:
2B: Kelley, Bryce 1 ; Ando, Royce 1 ; Lacayo, Nic 1
RBI: Bechina, Marty 1 ; Ando, Royce 3 ; Trahey, Reese 1 ; Lacayo, Nic 1 ; Iverson, Zach 1
SH: Trahey, Reese 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Antoncic, Justin 1 ; Kelley, Bryce 1 ; Chmielewski, Dan 2 ; Proctor, Adam 1 ; Ando, Royce 1 ; Trahey, Reese 1
